Course Update - April 2018

13/04/2018

Its continued to be a moist track out there with the rain not really letting up this last month which has made it a little difficult at times to present the course as we would like. Thanks to our volunteer network and great team we have done our best to stay on top of the mowing, even when some areas have been hard to get to.

2nd Hole Opened

It was especially pleasing on the 27th March to open the 2nd hole which I would have to say is the best green we have done to date. The green surface is fantastic and although will be a fraction slower than the rest already has a coverage that looks much more mature than the 4 months old that it actually is.

There is a little bit of growing in to go with the old pathway which was delayed somewhat due to the heavy rainfall we have received this year so far. But all in all the entire project was a huge success given the challenges we overcame.

Rainfall

Speaking of rain it was interesting to have a good look at our charts in writing this report. So far this calendar year we have received 50mm more than last year. Remembering that last year was a flood year it does make you realise that it has been wet, very wet in fact. Hopefully that is behind us though and we can dry the place out and prepare the surfaces the way we would like for the members.

This chart displays monthly rainfall with the blue line 2018 and the red line 2017.

Green Speed

You may have noticed a small increase in green speed of late. We are working at getting them a little faster now the full heat of summer is past and we are moving into the cooler months of Autumn and Winter. Expect speeds in the mid 9 feet range currently pushing up to 10 feet by early May.

Low Lying Areas

With this rainfall it has really highlighted our weakest areas that are low lying. These areas continue to collect water and due to their height which is sometimes only inches above the water table, never really dry out when we have so much rain. We are working on some projects to improve these areas so that water doesn’t get caught and can drain as it was designed to do.

GUR Areas being removed

Its now been more than 12 months since the flood so we are starting to remove some longer term GUR that is not really required anymore. Areas such as the 6th (left rough), 8th (right rough) and 13th hole (left rough) will be changed so they are back in play. Signage will be used to let players know these areas are now back in play and no relief is available.

New Rough Mower

We recently took delivery of a new rough mower from Toro. Well its actually a very good 2nd hand unit. This machine is a purpose built rough mower and has 7 rotary cutting heads. It will compliment our fleet quite nicely and combined with our other machines will help keep our rough in good order, especially next Summer when the grass is growing again.